This invention relates to a system and method for navigating through a document space and for retrieving documents.
It is common today for an organizationxe2x80x94be it public, private, academic or otherwisexe2x80x94to maintain a catalog of documents which is continually augmented. However, such organizations often may not realize the full potential and extent of the knowledge and information contained in their respective document catalogs because of a disparity between the way the documents are organized, the procedure by and stage at which information is sought by the user, and the manner and nature of the user""s intended application of the information. In other words, most document catalogs are not efficient in getting the appropriate information to the appropriate user at the appropriate or desired time. This is particularly true in the case of a user of a document catalog who has a specific role in a specific context and time frame, and who desires to get the appropriate information she needs at that junction. This is even more particularly true in cases when the user does not know exactly what information is needed, yet the information must be delivered in a consistent and efficient manner.
Users in a business environment typically approach an information or document repository with a specific business goal in mind. This business goal, together with any prior experience in performing the task, forms the user""s mental model. Like any other model, a mental model provides a predictive or explanatory value, and determines the information-seeking strategy one uses to obtain sought-after information. Since mental models are formed on the basis of familiarity with a particular domain, a novice may have a mental model that is considerably different (and probably less efficient) than the mental model of an expert.
Although there are a number of distinct information-seeking strategies, ranging from finding and retrieving a known document to free-form information exploration, current navigational models are limited, and do not take strategies or user models into account. Groups of usersxe2x80x94even groups working toward a similar goal or on a similar projectxe2x80x94may have different needs and goals based on different subgoals assigned or different stages in the process; hence, they may have a different information-seeking strategy. Further, an individual user may have different information-seeking strategies under different circumstances and at different stages of a project or process. Moreover the information retrieved may be outdated or obsolete, and therefore is of little value to the user.
Common navigational models known in the art are those such as cross-references or embedded links, table of contents, and indexing. Cross-referencing includes finding relevant documents and pursuing a subset of references in that document that are interesting to a user given the user""s scenario and knowledge. Table of contents includes text in a document which is arranged according to the author""s mental model and which provides navigational tools for finding desired informationxe2x80x94i.e. page numbers, links to text, etc. Indexing includes forming an index based on keywords or concepts. However, in indexing, if the user does not use the same terminology as the author to describe a concept, the search may be only partially successful or may fail completely. Also, indexing does not incorporate a mental model, beyond the author""s use of specific words, of how the document is to be used or applied.
Another searching methodology, known in the art as publish/subscribe methodology is generally a broad search for keywords which may exist in a document. This method is often hit-or-miss and often relies on the user predicting what terms an author may have included in his/her document. This methodology also depends on a user knowing what she wants or needs, and knowing how to access to it. Novice users, because of their incomplete mental model in the subject matter domain, may not have such breadth of knowledge. This method further may return information or documents not relevant to the user at all or not relevant to the user at a particular time. Thus while a user may be interested in many areas, that interest is generally a function of the current task. In other words, a user may need or be interested in particular information at a later stage of a process, but not while she is currently involved at an earlier stage.
Likewise, these methods do not allow an organization, through its documents, to enforce or establish policy parameters for its employees.
For the vast majority of documents and document catalogs, including corporate and university intranets and other document repositories, the foregoing describes the most common range of navigational options available and their limitations.
Consequently, a need has developed for a system and method which provides for a document navigational and retrieval model that aligns more closely with the needs and strategies of the individual user, and incorporates a user""s scenario. The system and method should consider the process or stage of development of the user. The system and method should also still reflect an organization""s demands for timely and efficient cataloging of documents and use of retrieval sources. The invention should also allow for providing users with the most up-to-date information. The system and method should also allow an organization to enforce its organizational policies and protocols through the documents it provides.
It is an object according to the present invention to provide a system and method for overcoming current limitations to accessing information and retrieving documents.
It is another object according to the present invention to provide a system and method for allowing a user to navigate documents and retrieve documents based on the user""s scenario, including user role, context and stage of a particular process.
It is another object according to the present invention to reduce the cost to maintain a presentation interface.
It is still another object according to the present invention to manage dynamically a document database.
It is yet another object according to the present invention to reduce the need to statically link a document in a database.
It is still further an object according to the present invention to provide a system and method for document retrieval which defines a scenario in terms of tags and values and retrieves a document with a given range of corresponding metadata.
It is still further an object according to the present invention to provide a method and system for ranking documents in terms of relevancy once retrieved.
In carrying out the above objects, features and advantages of the present invention, provided is a method of retrieving documents responsive to a given user-specified scenario and serving at least one user accessing an output device. In this method, a database is provided which has a plurality of documents which are stored therein. Each document has metadata defined by at least one predetermined tag and corresponding value which is assigned thereto. This method also includes a selection criteria which is received and corresponds to the user-specified scenario. Further included is comparing the received selection criteria to the metadata of each document to determine if there is a document match of tags and values. In the case that a document match is found, the method includes generating a retrieval report for presentation on the output device which includes each document match.
In order for an information search to be successful to a user having any level of experience and knowledge, she ideally must be able to conform to a single mental model of the author, who is probably an expert in that area. Since it is unlikely that a novice can spontaneously generate an appropriate expert mental model, and since it is equally unlikely that an expert can anticipate all possible user mental models, a logical approach would be to accommodate as many mental models (including novice and expert) as possible. By increasing the number of ways through which the document space can be navigated, the opportunity that the user""s mental model and the navigation model will converge improves. This allows an organization to enforce company policy by only allowing access to certain documents once the proper processes have been followed.
In one embodiment, the user scenario is received through user prompting to enter the selection criteria. In another embodiment, the method includes receiving the selection criteria by receiving a user tag and corresponding user value assigned thereto based on the actual user scenario. In still another embodiment, a searchable phrase is received which corresponds to the actual user scenario. The searchable phrase is parsed and keywords are extracted which corresponding to at least one user tag and corresponding user value. And yet in another embodiment, the method includes receiving a searchable phrase which corresponds to the actual user scenario. The searchable phrase is translated into a set of user tags and corresponding user values. In still another embodiment, the method includes receiving at least one user tag and corresponding user value associated with a process, a stage of the process, or a step in a development, in which the user is operating. The selection criteria may be received by the user via a keyboard, mouse or other means of input known in the art. Such criteria may be directly input in the form of tags and values so that the criteria does not need to be parsed or translated.
The method may also involve a database for storing other information related to the user. For example, in another embodiment, the method further includes storing the user selection criteria in a storage database. The storage database may be searched for stored user selection criteria from prior searches. The method may also include parsing the search request to extract at least one user tag and a corresponding user value that may be present in the search request.
The method may also infer at which stage of a scenario the user is at based on the tags and values submitted and allows a user to xe2x80x9cmove throughxe2x80x9d a scenario from beginning to end or at various intervals.
In further carrying out the aforementioned objects, features and advantages of the present invention, a document retrieval system according to the present invention is provided for access by at least one user. The system includes a database including a plurality of documents each having assigned thereto a set of predetermined tags and at least one corresponding predetermined value for each tag which define the parameters by which each document is searchable in the database. Also included in the system is a processor in communication with the database for receiving a plurality of user tags and corresponding user values. The user scenario (tags and values) are preferably received from the user accessing an input device like a keyboard. The processor also compares the user tags and corresponding user values with the predetermined tags and corresponding predetermined values to determine a match. The processor also generates a results output of documents which corresponds to the matched documents and sends them to an output device for presentation to the user.